Maybe talk to the 2 lenders who just posted and get their opinions.

But I talk to folks in the MTR space day in and day out who stay booked as much as they want.

First, I recommend to get a lot more education on this as the terminology you are using is confusing as you talk about buying a second mortgage which is literally buying a second mortgage, but it sounds like what you are talking about is buying a property at foreclosure auction whereas it is being foreclosed on by a 2nd or HOA. 

Maybe 6 or more months ago David Greene had someone on the BP podcast talking about mid-term rentals for travelling nurses and that's exactly what they did.

I was recently talking to an investor friend of mine who said "If I would have just held onto all my flips, I'd have 10x the value I made selling them in a portfolio".

He has a guy that is kind of this position that you talk about.

I can't talk to family or friends because everyone around me thinks i am doing better than i am actually doing (or should be doing).

And I am talking non trivial. 

Ignore all the talk about mold.

You will still be faced with the passive income loss limitation.In my opinion, continue buying quality real estate investments and allow the depreciation to shield your cash-flow.This will allow your real estate investments to grow tax deferred.